Like I said in one of my posts I am not the type of mom who gets pressured by other moms or whatever factor to worry about my child’s progress in life. Of course if it’s Gabbie’s pedia telling me that she’s behind some milestone or needs to change a habit which could hinder her growth physically, mentally & emotionally then I’d listen.
Gabbie is one comfort-sucker baby. As soon as we figured this one out we asked her pedia if we can give her a pacifier (binky) luckily, her pedia Dr. Aye Nuguid gave a go signal and since then she’s been a binky user. Every child has his/her own security item that they use to make them feel comfortable. Others use their blankets while others may find comfort on their favorite toy. I know my husband likes running his index finger back and forth on his chichi (hotdog pillow) when he was a kid and until now he occasionally does it to make him fall asleep faster. As for me, all I know is I’m a blanket kind of person. I remember when I was kid I use to put the blanket over my head when I sleep even if it’s really hot. Up until now, I still couldn’t sleep if there’s not even a part of my body that’s not covered by a duvet.
Gabbie around 2 months old.
Now that G is two years old I actually discussed with my husband the idea of weaning her from her binky but the husband who is also like me except that he’s more calm, cool & collected insisted that we wait & let Gabbie give up her binky on her own since we had a stressful experience when it comes to weaning.
Since I’ve been a Tommee Tippee user, all of Gabbie’s binkies are from the brand too because I believe their products mimic what is natural especially for the baby. I particularly love their ‘Closer to nature’ product line which I think I’ll also be using for my second baby.
Anyway, here are some of Gabbie’s photos with her binky.
G around 2 months old
G trying to hold her binky
Gabbie at 10 months old
G at 1 year & 10 months old
As I always say, “Makalimutan na lahat wag lang her binky” (forget everything else but not her binky). So last Friday we went to G’s Ahma’s (grandma) place to have dinner, as soon as we went back home I immediately felt we forgot something. To my horror we forgot Gabbie’s binky. I called her Ahma to check if binky’s there, but sadly they couldn’t find it. My husband decided we try one night without binky, luckily it was already weekend so no one was obliged to wake up early the next day should there be a sleepless night. I was hesitant about it because I know Gabbie gets all fuzzy without her binky. She was so sleepy that she didn’t look for her binky and my husband & I were both relieved knowing we would all have a good night’s sleep. We rejoiced too early, come 4 am Gabbie woke up asking for her binky. We tried hushing her by telling her binky’s sleeping at Ahma’s house but she was persistent to get it & she kept crying, poor baby! To comfort her we made her watch her current favorite TV show Hi-5 on her iPad. The sobbing stopped for a few minutes but every now and then she still asks for her binky. The constant begging with matching crying lasted up until she fell asleep around 6 in the morning.
The next day hubby & I decided we wean G off her binky. Since one night had already passed without it, a few more sleepless nights wouldn’t hurt. Come the next day which was of Gabbie’s scheduled pedia visit. We had a conspiracy with her doctor, asking him if he could tell Gabbie that her binky’s with him and to tell Gabbie that there’s no more binky because she’s already a big girl. And because G finds her doctor intimidating, we’d like to believe she listened. As we were anticipating the night of Saturday to be another sleepless one, to our surprise right after G & I brushed our teeth, she immediately told me “Mommy, no more binky doctor” (referring that her binky’s with doctor na). I was so delighted that I told G to tell her dad what she told me, again she repeated it to her dad and shortly fell asleep without a cry nor demand of her binky. She slept soundly through the night and woke up only to change her sleeping position. Again, we felt so proud of her, it was a great accomplishment for G. Given that she’s been binky dependent for two years, her whole existence!
The next night just to be sure I was still anticipating G might wake up in the middle of the night asking for her binky, but no she didn’t. Again she slept soundly through the night, she in fact slept early last night well we all did and she woke up from almost 12 hours of sleep. Never did I heard her ask for her binky and it’s only been three days, I’m amazed!
Gabbie's Binky book she got from her cousin.
Gabbie’s favorite book, I showed this to her this morning and read it again for the first time after she’s been binky-free for three days. She usually gets her binky & mimics the baby on the book but since binky’s gone she just said “Mommy, no more binky” and a big loud “YEHEY” with matching jumping up and down followed after.
Talk about an accidentally unplanned weaning. I’m just glad that getting her doctor to help in weaning Gabbie off her binky worked. My last resort would’ve been putting ginger or any other weird smelling & tasting spice/seasoning on her binky so that she won’t like it anymore but looks like the weaning fairy wanted it this way. A more rational process with matching simple explanation as to where binky is & why she doesn’t need it anymore.
Got any weaning moments with your baby? Share it here!
Happy Monday!
Hi Jackie, my eldest daughter (now 18 yrs old) forego her pacifier habit late. (1 year and 6 months). Just like your little one, she would cry if her pacifier was nowhere in sight. And I would pity her and gave in to her helpless look. But when I observed that her teeth started to be “sungki”, this make me determined to put a stop in her pacifier days. It was really hard and it took her 4 days to adjust and forget about her pacifier. But it was really hard for Moms specially if our kids are crying and with a “paawa” face.
Heartbreaking seeing them suffer noh? But at least they managed to get over using their binky.
i’m having a hard time weaning my son from the bottle! waaaahhh… he doesn’t drink milk from the bottle anymore during daytime, but when he’s sleepy and at night he still wants to drink from the bottle
Hi Issa! Naku at least your son doesn’t drink from his bottle during daytime, si Gabbie until now she does & I’m afraid of weaning her from it again kasi baka ma-trauma na, we’ll wait a little longer until she understands na why we’ll wean her from her bottle.